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The Bar Pro Bono Unit has announced that it will change its name to Advocate in October.

Pronounced as the verb, Advocate will carry the strapline ‘Finding free legal help from barristers’.

Over the past three years the Unit has worked to improve the volunteering experience for barristers and service it provides to those needing free legal help.

The 22-year-old charity, which through the work of thousands of barristers has provided free expert legal help to over 9,000 people, will soon launch an online application form for applicants and an online portal for volunteers.

Developing the changes, it told Counsel that it had become aware that many applicants struggled to understand or remember its name.

The new name followed research and brand analysis funded by a wider grant from the Legal Education Foundation.

Feedback showed that applicants thought the new name made them feel that ‘someone will speak up for them’ and barristers said it made it clear that it was a free service from the profession.

As the Bar’s pro bono charity, the Unit said it was essential that it should be accessible to the public while sharing the stories widely of the many barristers that volunteer their time to help.

Advocate Chief Executive, Jess Campbell said: ‘The rebrand is a platform for the charity to engage more effectively with the Bar, front line agencies and, most importantly, the people the Bar set us up to help.

‘I look forward to the new chapter Advocate heralds in facilitating the Bar to continue to demonstrate its long-standing commitment to helping some of the most vulnerable people in our society.’

Fault-based divorce is set to be scrapped under government plans to streamline the divorce process and end the ‘blame-game’.

Lord Chancellor, David Gauke, who has previously said that the argument for reform is ‘strong’, is expected to launch a consultation to shake up legislation that has not been changed for almost half a century.

A case at the Supreme Court in July highlighted the need for change, after judges ruled that Tini Owens must remain married to her husband of 40 years until 2020 because he refused to consent to a divorce.

Under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, unless both partners agree to split after two years of separation, one party must prove their partner is at fault through adultery, desertion or unreasonable behaviour. Otherwise, applicants must wait until they have lived apart for five years.

The Legal Aid Practitioners Group announced that its director, Carol Storer, will step down in November. She has led the group for 10 years, outlasting seven Lord Chancellors. Chris Minnoch, the group’s operations director, will take up the reigns until the new director is recruited.

The government opened a four-week consultation on how the pledged £15m extra fees for criminal defence barristers will be allocated.

In June the Ministry of Justice announced extra funding after barristers at more than 100 chambers refused to accept new cases in protest over the reformed advocates’ graduated fee scheme (AGFS), and threatened to escalate their action.

In a Criminal Bar Association (CBA) poll, more than 3,000 barristers voted by a narrow margin – 51.5% to 48.45% – to accept the pay offer and discontinue action.

Under the government proposal, fee rates will be increased for child sex offences, dishonesty offences and drug offences. In addition a 1% fee rise across all offences will come into effect in April 2019.

Justice minister, Lucy Frazer said: ‘We have worked closely with the leaders of the Bar Council and CBA to address concerns raised over the AGFS and we now welcome the thoughts of the wider legal professions on the revised scheme.

‘We are committed to working with the sector to support and strengthen the criminal advocacy profession and will listen carefully to the responses we receive.’

But Christina Blacklaws, President of the Law Society, criticised the government for ignoring the concerns of solicitors over inadequate litigation fees.

A judgment of India’s Supreme Court decriminalised homosexual sex. It ruled that a 160-year-old law banning gay sex amounted to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and was unconstitutional.

Electronic signatures can be used to sign formal legal contracts under English law, the Law Commission confirmed. It also suggested that electronic signatures could be witnessed via a webcam or video link, and mooted allowing a witness to use a real-time, shared online platform to witness documents from different locations.

The first ever Justice Week designed to put justice and the rule of law at the centre stage of public and political debate is set to run at the end of October.

The initiative is the work of the three legal professional bodies – Bar Council, Law Society and Chartered Institute of Legal Executives. It runs from Monday 29 October to Friday 2 November and features a programme of research, public events and digital content. It follows on from Pro Bono Week, 22 to 26 October, which continues its spotlight on lawyers’ voluntary legal work.

With many parts of the legal system at breaking point, due to funding cuts, Justice Week is designed to boost the profile of justice and the rule of law and make the case for why they are so fundamental to society, the economy and democracy.

Building on the achievements of National Pro Bono Week, Justice Week will also celebrate the pro bono work of legal professionals and support, guide and encourage those looking to undertake it for the first time.

* Meanwhile, as part of the celebrations to mark the start of the legal year, the Temple Church is holding a special choral evening on Wednesday 3 October at 5.30pm, with a speech by philosopher and Inner Temple Bencher, Sir Roger Scruton, on ‘The Law of the Land’. Followed by a drinks reception, the event is open to all members of chambers, staff and families in and around the Temple, but primarily aimed at those who have not attended the official ceremony in Westminster Abbey.

The Court of Appeal overturned a High Court ruling that mining company Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) had to hand over to the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) documents prepared by its lawyers as part of its inquiry into claims of wrongdoing made by a whistleblower. In SFO v ENRC [2018] EWCA Civ 2006, the court upheld ENRC’s claim that most of the documents sought were covered by legal privilege.

To retain public confidence judges cannot stand ‘aloof’ from society, warned the Lord Chief Justice, as he called for a ‘measured expansion of livestreaming and broadcasting’ of proceedings.

Speaking at the Commonwealth Magistrates’ and Judges’ Association annual conference in Australia, Lord Justice Burnett urged judges to engage more with the public and media. He said: ‘The judiciary invites misunderstanding or incomprehension if it stands completely apart and aloof from society.’

Support for judicial independence is ‘not immutable and cannot be taken for granted’ he said, warning of a ‘gentle erosion’ of support in some countries.

‘We have seen judges referred to as “so-called judges”. We see judges being criticised because their decisions fail to match the popular mood,’ he said, noting the newspaper ‘Enemies of the People’ headlines that followed the Brexit referendum litigation.

‘Judicial independence, like democracy and the rule of law, is dependent on the existence of strong cultural norms. The concepts need to be understood. Society, as a whole, must believe in them and they must be supported by society,’ he said.

In order to secure effective public understanding of the role of the judiciary, Lord Justice Burnett said that judges must be committed to ‘open justice’ with judgments, rulings and sentencing remarks given in open court and greater online publication of judgments and online broadcasting of hearings.

He added: ‘I look forward to a measured expansion of livestreaming and broadcasting of proceedings more widely.’

Latest Cases

Pension – Pension scheme. The wording of the rules governing the Universities Superannuation Scheme (the scheme), consistent with the proper operation of the scheme entitled and required the appellant trustee of the scheme to determine for itself, based on medical opinion as defined, whether a member of the scheme (the respondent) was suffering from a total incapacity or a partial incapacity. That entitled and required the trustee to determine whether he was suffering from any incapacity at all and the trustee was not bound by the conclusion of the respondent's former employer that he suffered from incapacity. The Chancery Division so ruled in allowing the trustee's appeal against a decision by the Pensions Ombudsman, concerning the trustee's refusal to award the respondent ill-health retirement benefits.

Criminal law – Mutual legal assistance. It was lawful for the Secretary of State to authorise mutual legal assistance to a foreign state in support of a criminal investigation which might lead to prosecution for offences which carried the death sentence in that state, without requiring an assurance that the prosecution would not seek the death sentence. Accordingly, the Divisional Court rejected each ground of the claimant's challenge to the defendant Secretary of State's decision and the subsequent transfer of materials, including personal data, to the US authorities concerning accusations of terrorism against her son.

Contempt of court – Committal. The judge had erred in the way she had dealt with the alleged contempts of the third party director, both in making a committal order against the director, and in striking out the claimant company and the director's possession application, and their defence to the defendant's counterclaim. Accordingly, the Court of Appeal, Civil Division, allowed the appeals of the director and the claimant and held that the claim and the counterclaim would be transferred for trial in front of a different judge.

Extradition – Prohibition on torture. The assurances offered in respect of each of the stages of the criminal proceedings which the appellant faced were satisfactory and appropriate in order to address the risk of ill-treatment arising from prison conditions and overcrowding in Romania. Accordingly, the Divisional Court dismissed his appeal against orders for his extradition to Romania to stand trial for attempt to kidnap.

Will – Revocation. In circumstances where only a certified copy of the deceased's will had been found, the presumption in favour of the revocation of the will did not arise on the facts of the case, and there was insufficient evidence to find that the will had been revoked, as the claimant had contended. Accordingly, the Chancery Division ruled that it was appropriate to propound in favour of the certified copy of the will.